The force awakens (star wars) alan dean foster

Star Wars: The Force Awakens is a work of fiction Names, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental Copyright â 2015 by Lucasfilm Ltd & đ or TM where indicated All rights reserved Published in the United States by Del Rey, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York DEL REY and the HOUSE colophon are registered trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC ISBN 9781101965498 ebook ISBN 9781101965504 randomhousebooks.com Book design by Elizabeth A D Eno, adapted for ebook v4.1 prh prh-3 Contents Title Page Copyright Timeline Epigraph Chapter I Chapter II Chapter III Chapter IV Chapter V Chapter VI Chapter VII Chapter VIII Chapter IX Chapter X Chapter XI Chapter XII Chapter XIII Chapter XIV Chapter XV Chapter XVI Chapter XVII Chapter XVIII By Alan Dean Foster About the Author A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.… First comes the day Then comes the night After the darkness Shines through the light The difference, they say, Is only made right By the resolving of gray Through refined Jedi sight —Journal of the Whills, 7:477 Luke Skywalker has vanished In his absence, the sinister FIRST ORDER has risen from the ashes of the Empire and will not rest until Skywalker, the last Jedi, has been destroyed With the support of the REPUBLIC, General Leia Organa leads a brave RESISTANCE She is desperate to find her brother, Luke, and gain his help in restoring peace and justice to the galaxy Leia has sent her most daring pilot on a secret mission to Jakku, where an old ally has discovered a clue to Luke’s whereabouts… it was not his to make “I know what I have to do, but I don’t know if I have the strength to it.” Ren moved out onto the walkway toward Han “Will you help me?” “Yes,” Han told him “Anything.” Halting an arm’s length from his father, Ren unclipped his lightsaber, looked down at it for a moment, and then extended it toward Han For an instant that seemed to extend into forever, nothing happened Smiling, Han reached for the weapon Then, as the light from outside was fully blocked by the flow of descending, accumulating dark energy, Ren ignited the lightsaber—and the fiery red beam lanced outward to pierce Han’s chest from front to back “Thank you,” Ren murmured, and truly, the darkness above was mimicked by the darkness in his voice From their perch high above, Finn and Rey gasped simultaneously “Solo Solo.” Finn put an arm around the girl beside him “Rey.” “No,” she whispered “No, no, no…” Accepting without quite believing, Han stared back into the face of the creature that had been his son There was nothing to see there Only darkness in the shape of a face: alien, unthinking, unfeeling His knees buckled, the beam tilting down with him as he crumpled Ren extinguished it For another moment Han held on to the edge of the walkway A rush of memories flashed through his mind: worlds and time, friends and enemies, triumphs and failures Words he wished he had spoken and others he regretted All gone now, lost in an instant, like the one he would never again be able to hold in his arms Then he fell, to vanish into the depths On another world far, far away, a woman felt a shudder in the Force that lanced through her like a knife She slumped into a seat, her head lowering, and started to cry Stunned by his own action, Kylo Ren fell to his knees Following through on the act ought to have made him stronger, a part of him believed Instead, he found himself weakened He did not hear the roar of the enraged Wookiee above, but he did feel the sting of the shot from the bowcaster as it slammed into his side, knocking him back on the walkway Hostile fire being something the group of stormtroopers could react to without having to wait for an order, they immediately blasted back at Chewie Returning fire, the Wookiee retreated down a corridor, hitting the switch on the remote detonator as he ran First one charge ignited, then two, then four, and finally the rest Enormous, concerted explosions rocked the interior of the hexagon Walkways collapsed, plunging to the bottom of the interior cylinder There was shuddering as the walls trembled, held—and then began to fail as their main support and then subsidiary columns snapped Amid the rising bedlam and confusion, Kylo Ren struggled to stand As he did so, his gaze turned upward To meet the stares of Finn and Rey, peering down at him The shock of recognition helped him to regain his footing Rising to his full height, he started back along the still-standing walkway, moving with determination Heading upward Taking their cue from their leader, those troopers who were not pursuing Chewbacca began to fire at the two figures on the lower level A crazed, heartbroken Rey returned their fire She would have stayed there, blasting away wildly, had not Finn half dragged, half carried her away — High above and swathed in the shadow of the curtain of descending dark energy, Poe Dameron saw something An explosion on the roof of the containment center By its intensity and configuration he could tell that it was not the result of a hit from one of his X-wings, but instead a blast from within Swinging around, he found that for the first time he could see the interior of the seemingly impregnable structure It was an opening A small one One opportunity, maybe Given the way the fight was going, probably a last one “All units, this is Black Leader Target structural integrity has been breached! I repeat: Target integrity has been breached! There’s an opening Now’s our chance! Hit it hard, give it everything you’ve got!” Led by the black fighter and ignoring both pursuing TIE fighters and arcing seekers, the remaining X-wings broke off from defensive combat and dove as one toward the hexagon A few strikes missed, detonating harmlessly against the still-intact sides of the building But the others, most, hit their mark As Poe and his comrades pulled up and away, one detonation after another shook the great edifice Gradually, almost in slow motion, it began to collapse, the walls falling in upon themselves More significantly, gouts of flame began to erupt from below, rising from unseen chambers far underground Letting out a yell of triumph, Poe accelerated skyward, heading for the outer atmosphere Secure in his position behind the cockpit, BB-8 emitted a steady stream of excited beeps “All teams, nice job!” Poe said to his fellow pilots “General, the target’s been destroyed!” Leia’s warm voice filled his ears, but the message she delivered was an unexpected one “Good—now retreat immediately! The planet could be unstable Get out of there now.” Even with the relay in place, it took a moment for the message to be received Poe didn’t hesitate to reply “If we retreat, we leave our friends behind!” Having anticipated Poe’s response, Leia was ready with her own “Poe, outside of those of us here, your group is all that remains of the Resistance that’s capable of putting up a fight If you stay to find them, we lose you all.” “General, with all due respect,” he said evenly, “we’re not leaving our friends behind Teams, who’s with me?” He expected a delayed response He was wrong: It came immediately, from Snap “We’re all with you, Poe You know that.” A concurring yelp came from the ship piloted by the Sullustan, Nien Nunb, followed by the others “Then let’s go some good and find them!’ XVIII WITHIN THE CORRIDORS and confines, the administrative rooms and technical control sectors of Starkiller Base, there was panic Technicians reacted with despair as, despite their frantic efforts, one monitor after another went to red as critical systems began to fail “Lower-order cells are overheating,” declared one tech in the command center “Emergency crew can’t get to the site Full system load shutdown.” When he turned back to Hux there was a look in his eyes that the general had never seen in any of his techs “The oscillator is failing We’re losing containment.” “Oscillator has been hit.” Another officer struggled to keep the fear out of his voice “Assessing damage Attempting to sustain power.” Hux watched it all in silence as he backed away slowly There was no point in doing anything else, he knew The tech teams would stabilize the oscillation of the containment field Otherwise, there would be nothing to back up to — “Come on.” Seeking a path through the snow, shadows, and increasingly dark forest, Finn finally slowed Where were they running to? In any event, both he and Rey were out of breath When he looked over at her, he knew the same realization had struck her It was good, anyway, to stop Even in the artificial darkness, in the shadow of the curtain of descending dark energy, the forest felt…clean At least, it did until a singular figure came upon them and uttered a single word “Stop.” The three stood staring at one another: Finn and Rey, Kylo Ren some ten meters away As Ren reached for his lightsaber, Rey pulled her blaster, stepped forward, and took aim Before she could fire, Ren raised a hand, halting her She strained against him, her anger giving her strength But she couldn’t fire He was struggling also, against her newly discovered ability, as well as the wound inflicted by Chewbacca’s bowcaster Gritting his teeth, he flung his arm sideways in a single, powerful gesture—and the blaster went flying out of her hand Inhaling deeply, he gestured again, and this time it was Rey who went flying, to smash into a tree nearby and slide to the ground, dazed and hurt “Rey—Rey!” Finn started toward her, but the sound of Ren’s lightsaber igniting made him turn In the darkness, the hum and glow of the gleaming red weapon was mesmerizing With nothing else to fall back on and unable to reach Rey’s blaster, Finn resorted to the only defense at his command: He pulled and activated the Skywalker lightsaber For some reason, the sight of it was enough to give Ren pause He stared at it for a moment before reacting “That weapon—is mine.” Finn all but snarled his reply “Come and get it.” Drawing himself up, a towering figure in the snow, Ren did not even bother to gesture “I’m going to kill you for it.” He rushed forward Despite his fear, Finn raised the beam to defend himself Ren lunged, struck—and Finn parried Shards of light flew, illuminating the snow and the surrounding vegetation Drawing back slightly, Ren considered his unexpectedly determined opponent, then resumed his assault with a vengeance Finn blocked him again and again, once letting the other man’s beam slide against his own and harmlessly off to one side He counterattacked, to no avail The longer the contest continued, the stronger Ren seemed to become It was as if he was enjoying the challenge Feeding upon it At least, it appeared so until Finn parried, swung, and unexpectedly stabbed, the tip of his lightsaber beam grazing Ren’s arm That made it more than a challenge Taking a step back, Ren reconsidered his opponent When he closed the distance between them anew, it was with a purpose that had been previously lacking Expecting an execution, he had found a contest Now he had been touched It was time for play to end Advancing relentlessly, he was driven by something that Finn could not even sense, far less counter Still the ex-trooper fought back, until Ren landed a blow that cut across Finn’s chest and sent the lightsaber flying from his hand It landed in the snow six meters distant It was over Switching off his own weapon, Ren extended an arm toward the device lying in the snow It twitched and then began to vibrate as the Force called to it Stretching out his hand farther, straining, Ren beckoned powerfully—and the lightsaber rose, to come bulleting toward his outstretched fingers And past them Taken aback, he whirled—to see the weapon land in the hand of a girl standing by a tree Rey appeared equally shocked that her reach for the device had exceeded his She gazed down at the weapon now resting in her grip “It is you,” Ren murmured His words unsettled her: Not for the first time, he seemed to know more about her than she did about herself But she had no time to ponder his comment, nor was she inclined to so anyway; she was too consumed with rage Holding the haft of the lightsaber in both hands, she ignited the beam—and charged Ren met her with his own weapon alight Expecting weakness, he encountered only strength Her skill with the device was raw at best, but it was backed by a fury that was as new to his experience as it was unexpected When the beams of their lightsabers crossed, the resulting burst of energy lit an entire section of forest — Within the base, pandemonium reigned as buildings began not just to crumple, but to collapse into a succession of huge sinkholes as the ground itself surrendered to the slowly failing containment field Observing the cataclysm out a command center window, a young tech rushed for the presumed safety of the building’s interior A senior officer confronted him, stopped him “Lieutenant, back to your station!” Fully aware that in the present situation rank no longer meant anything, the tech paused only long enough to reply “Look, we won’t survive here Even Hux has gone!” He pushed past the dazed officer, who this time did not try to stop him In the darkness of the cavernous assembly room, Hux stood before the image of Snoke Try as he would, it was proving increasingly difficult to maintain a semblance of control “Supreme Leader, the oscillator is failing The collapse has begun.” He looked downward “There is nothing that can be done.” Furious as he was, Snoke knew there was nothing he could So many plans so carefully laid, so many intentions that must now go unfulfilled… “You will leave Starkiller at once and come to me with Kylo Ren Leave immediately.” He added grimly, “It appears that he may have been right about the girl.” — To an observer at a distance, it would have appeared as if a series of small explosions was going off in the depths of the forest Blow after blow landed as lightsaber struck against lightsaber Though Ren was bigger and stronger than Rey, their struggle had nothing to with physical size What she lacked in mass, she made up for in ferocity For a while she actually drove him backward, until he regained his self-assurance and in turn pressed her The fight continued to shift back and forth; first he gained the advantage, then an enraged Rey took it back There was a vast rumbling, as of a continent sighing, and a gigantic chunk of forest behind Rey simply collapsed downward, leaving her fighting on the edge of a cliff so high that the newly formed surface below could not be seen through the rising cloud of dust Ren held his lightsaber, poised to strike “I could kill you right now But there is another way.” Breathing hard, Rey looked up in disgust at the man looming above her “You’re a monster.” “No You need a teacher.” He was beseeching and insistent all at once “I can show you the ways of the Force!” Slowly she shook her head “The Force?” That was what this was about? Instead of moving to defend herself, Rey closed her eyes Ren hesitated, confused by her actions A long moment passed, in which Ren sensed a change in the air, a change in her Then she opened her eyes and attacked, viciously, in a way she didn’t know she was capable of, striking again and again as Ren was slowly driven back The flaring energy from the interacting lightsabers was more pronounced than ever in the flurry of her attack And— Ren went down He was up again in an instant, but not in time to fully deflect a following blow from Rey’s weapon He succeeded in blocking it, but he still took the full force of the strike against the haft of his own lightsaber The weapon went flying into the snow Unarmed, he raised a hand and utilized the Force to fend off one slashing blow after another, until finally her fury penetrated his remaining defenses Taking a glancing blow to the head and chest, he went down, a prominent burn slashed across his face Weakened, he reached out toward his lightsaber, trying to draw it to him One downward cut, she saw One quick, final strike, and she could kill him The landing lights of a shuttle appeared in the distance, coming over the trees in her direction She had to make a decision, now Kill him, a voice inside her head said It was amorphous, unidentifiable, raw Pure vengeful emotion So easy, she told herself So quick She recoiled from it From the dark side The world shook beneath her as the ground began to split Turning away from the injured figure, she ran back to where Finn lay badly wounded A deep gully formed, separating her from General Hux and the arriving troopers Utilizing the tiny position sensor emplaced in Ren’s belt, Hux had tracked him to this spot He would have taken Rey and Finn, as well, if not for the command that had been issued by the Supreme Leader That took precedence over everything There was simply no time left The two renegades were going to die here anyway, he told himself as he followed the troopers carrying Ren into the nearby shuttle As soon as he was aboard, it lifted off, its occupants desperate to flee the dying planet Below them, Rey huddled beside the unconscious Finn Turning him over, she recoiled from the wound Ren had inflicted with his lightsaber The blow had cauterized instantly In the dim light she couldn’t estimate its depth, nor if it had passed through any vital organs Holding the unresponsive body in her arms, she started to cry There were worse ways to die, she told herself as the ground continued to shake and trees began to topple around her No, she corrected herself bitterly There was only one way to die She steeled her thoughts The glow that enveloped her and Finn did not come from the planetary core It was too bright, too localized Raising a hand to shield her eyes from the approaching glare, she squinted into the brilliant light It took a moment to resolve itself into the scanning beams of a ship A ship she recognized Rising from the vicinity of the new canyon that had appeared behind Rey in the course of her battle with Kylo Ren, the Millennium Falcon came toward them Considering the general conditions and the unstable surface, its pilot made a surprisingly smooth touchdown She would have thrown herself into Chewie’s arms had he not stooped immediately to pick up the limp body of Finn Given the chance, she would have remained in the medbay, where the Wookiee set his burden down But despite its added modifications, the Falcon still flew better with someone in the copilot’s seat In moments they were beyond the atmosphere of the imploding planet The jump to lightspeed was accomplished without incident, preventing them from observing the final cataclysm Which was just as well A moment after they fled, Starkiller Base system became a binary — Poe, having called in his teams in relief after spotting the Falcon leaving Starkiller Base, was waiting for the ship as it touched down on D’Qar, settling into a vacant space between the remaining Resistance X-wings Even before the boarding ramp hit the ground, Chewbacca was emerging, moving fast with the still-breathing Finn in his arms Medical personnel and officers waiting to meet them escorted the pair inside the complex Following in the Wookiee’s wake, an exhausted Rey found herself greeted by a cheering crowd Leia Organa was in the forefront, accompanied by a pair of droids Rey recognized BB-8 immediately, and wondered at the identity of the gleaming golden protocol droid at his side Instinctively, she headed toward Leia No general now, Leia took the young girl’s face in her hands Though brokenhearted at the deaths of Han and so many brave pilots, Leia was grateful for the deliverance of the Resistance In spite of the presence of the crowd that was looking on, the two women embraced without embarrassment or hesitation Then, with tears falling, they moved inside Hours passed without word from the medical center When Dr Kalonia finally emerged from the intensive care section, Rey nearly fainted at seeing the smile on her face The physician’s words confirmed Rey’s hope “Your friend’s going to be just fine.” “Thank you.” It was all Rey could think of to say Kalonia looked down at her “I don’t get to treat many lightsaber wounds It’s such an old weapon People today prefer to fight with rifles and blasters, from long range.” She shrugged “I suppose it doesn’t matter Death is death, no matter the mechanism that is employed to beget it.” Her smile returned “But not for your friend Not this time.” — Located somewhat apart from the swirl of main activity inside the Resistance base, the conference room was perfect for a strategic gathering Leia was there, as well as Poe, C3PO, BB-8, a handful of chosen officers, and an assortment of equipment and gear that was considered important but was little used Never one to defer in the presence of superiors, Poe spoke first “Kylo Ren said that the segment held by Beebee-Ate is the last piece of the map that shows the way to Skywalker’s location So, where’s the rest of it?” “The First Order has it.” Rey looked over at him “They extracted it from the Imperial archives.” Poe stared at her “The Empire?” Admiral Statura nodded in agreement “It makes sense The Empire would have been looking for the first Jedi temples In destroying all the Jedi sanctuaries they would have acquired a great deal of peripheral information.” So intent were they on the current conversation and its possible ramifications that no one noticed that a light had come on atop a small R2 unit shoved back among the rest of the equipment in the room Nor did they see that its hemispherical head had turned to look in their direction “We’re still at war with First Order,” Leia pointed out “A war that won’t end until either it or the Resistance is destroyed The next time, without Luke, we won’t stand a chance.” The silence that ensued was broken by a flurry of beeping and whistling the likes of which the somber gathering had not heard in some time In the case of this particular beeping and whistling, not in years No one was more surprised than C-3PO when R2-D2 came rolling forward to join the assembly “Artoo! What—what is it? I haven’t seen you this functional since—” He was interrupted by a fresh farrago of beeping that all but drowned him out “Slow down! You’re giving me data overload!” Whether the mechanical hand that rose to the side of the golden head to indicate a headache truly reflected what the protocol droid was feeling or was simply a gesture for the benefit of watching humans, only C-3PO knew An excited Leia moved closer Of all the organics in the room, no one had a more personal relationship to the little droid than she did “What’s he saying?” she asked The protocol droid explained “If the information you are seeking was in the Imperial archives, he believes he may have catalogued that data He’s scanning through it now.” Rey stared at the diminutive droid “Artoo has the rest of the map?” “He’s certainly implying the possibility!” C-3PO told her “I’ve never heard him beep with this much energy before.” Emitting a long, sustained whistle, R2-D2 projected a full three-dimensional image of a huge navigational star chart No one in the room could fail to notice that it was missing a substantial fragment In response to the hovering image, BB-8 began beeping excitedly “Yeah, buddy, hold on,” Poe told him “I have it.” Moving to the side of the spherical droid, the pilot removed from a sealed compartment in his clothing the tiny and very old data device he had originally received from Lor San Tekka Inserting it into an appropriate receptacle in BB-8, Poe stepped back For a moment, nothing happened Then a lens on the droid’s curved side came to life, projecting a large section of starfield Shrinking it down so that its proportions matched those of the missing piece within R2’s map, BB-8 adjusted his position slightly The two disparate portions merged perfectly to form a completed chart “Oh, my stars!” Threepio’s exclamation was no less astonished than those of his organic counterparts “That’s it!” What caused Leia to sway slightly had nothing to with the Force and everything to with heartfelt emotion “Luke…” “The map.” Rey could only stare in wonder as her eyes wandered over a shining, resplendent portrayal of a substantial portion of the galaxy “It’s the whole map!” “Artoo!” C-3PO’s tone was that of a proud relative complimenting a member of his family “Artoo, you’ve done it!” Cheers and spontaneous embraces filled the room with so much joy that no one paid any attention to who was hugging what representative of whichever species Rey and Poe were not excluded, though their sudden, tight clinch of shared excitement led to a moment of mutual awkwardness “Uh, hi,” the pilot mumbled “I’m Poe.” She nodded slowly, searching his face and finding that she liked it “I recognize the name So you’re Poe Poe Dameron, the X-wing pilot I’m Rey.” “I know.” He smiled back, a little more at ease “Nice to meet you.” Amid all the shouting and spontaneous applause, few noticed a protocol droid as he bent over the now quiet astromech unit “My dear friend, how I’ve missed you.” — Within the intensive care pod in the medical center, Finn lay in a medically induced coma, his health and life still very much in the balance Dr Kalonia’s prognosis had been favorable, even positive, but nothing certain could be said until Finn had fully recovered When wholly parsed, the phrase “be all right” could mean one thing to a physician and something else entirely to the patient Sitting beside him, a deeply concerned Rey noted the hour It was time to go Leaning in to him as closely as the pod would permit, she kissed him softly, her words full of determination “We’ll see each other again I believe that Thank you, my friend.” — Cleaned up and visibly refreshed from his long period of inactivity, R2-D2 led the way up the Millennium Falcon’s loading ramp Nearby, Chewbacca was performing the usual lastminute checks of the ship’s external systems Ordinarily it was a two-person job, but he insisted on doing it by himself Standing at the foot of the ramp, an uncertain and uneasy Leia found herself fiddling with the seals on the front of the jacket Rey was wearing Foolish nonsense, she told herself even as she continued Unworthy of her status and position But it felt so right, and so natural, to be doing so “I’m proud of what you’re about to do,” she told the girl Rey replied in all seriousness “But you’re also afraid In sending me away, you’re— reminded.” Leia straightened “You won’t share the fate of our son.” “I know what we’re doing is right This is how it has to be This is how it should be.” Leia smiled gently, reassuringly “I know it, too May the Force be with you.” She watched until Rey was inside the ship and the ramp had closed behind her Then she joined Poe, BB-8, and C-3PO in moving to a safe distance In the cockpit, Rey headed for the copilot’s seat, only to find her way blocked by a massive, hirsute form “Chewie, the Falcon flies better with two people at the controls, you know that I’ve already sat in that seat I’m ready to so again.” A series of moans came from the Wookiee Then he turned—and sat down In the copilot’s seat Rey felt herself tearing up “You’re serious, aren’t you?” Chewie groaned and, to make certain she grasped his meaning, gestured to his left Toward the pilot’s position Sitting down, she settled herself in She could this If Chewbacca felt she could it, then who was she to dispute him? As she hesitated, the Wookiee reached over and mussed her hair Grinning, she made a show of trying to slap his hand away He had no idea how much this innocent, familial gesture meant to her Behind them, R2-D2 beeped happily Facing forward again, she completed a last scan of the console, assuring herself she knew where everything was From experience, she knew that the Falcon was a forgiving ship She intended to right by it Reaching out, she let her fingers play over the controls Beside her, Chewie did likewise as he groaned his approval The Millennium Falcon rose — The planet was mostly ocean, dotted with a sprinkling of towering islands formed of black rock: the throats of volcanoes whose slopes had long since eroded away Greenery caped the stony flanks, falling in emerald waves toward the azure sea Above the calm waters, flying creatures soared on wide wings of translucent white A great uproar broke out among the wheeling flocks as something larger and louder than any of them descended toward the surface The Falcon banked toward one of the bigger islands, slowing as it did so A wide, flat area at the base of the island’s central mountain provided just enough room for the ship to touch down while avoiding the water It sat there for a while Slowly, an assortment of small, furtive land animals began to peer out of the forest that cloaked the mountain, drawn by curiosity to this strange arrival The ramp descended and the ship’s crew emerged Wookiee and droid looked on as Rey, her old staff strapped to her back, began working her way up the steep, jungle-clad incline before her Occasionally she would pause to catch her breath and to look back Each time, Chewbacca would wave Had he been equipped to so, R2-D2 would have done likewise So old were the stone steps she ascended that grooves had been worn in the front edges by the tramp of thousands of footsteps The climb was steep, the air humid, and she felt herself tiring But the thought of stopping never once entered her mind Eventually, finally, she found herself in a small clearing occupied by several modest stone structures The prospect was unbearably primitive Within the structures there was no movement save for the hurried retreat of small, covert creatures She halted abruptly There was—something She turned sharply Some distance from her, at the periphery of the forest, stood a figure shrouded in a simple cloak and robe It did not matter that it was facing away from her She knew instantly who it was Yet all she could was stare in silence Whether motivated by her stare or by something unknown, the figure finally turned toward her and pulled back his hood Luke Skywalker His hair and beard were white, and his countenance was haunted He did not speak, nor did she Remembering, Rey reached into her pack and removed his lightsaber Taking several steps forward, she held it out to him An offer A plea The galaxy’s only hope She wondered what would happen next BY ALAN DEAN FOSTER PUBLISHED BY RANDOM HOUSE STAR WARS The Force Awakens The Approaching Storm Splinter of the Mind’s Eye TRANSFORMERS Revenge of the Fallen The Veiled Threat Ghosts of Yesterday Transformers THE FOUNDING OF THE COMMONWEALTH Diuturnity’s Dawn Dirge Phylogenesis PIP AND FLINX For Love of Mother-Not The Tar-Aiym Krang Orphan Star The End of the Matter Flinx in Flux Mid-Flinx Reunion Flinx’s Folly Sliding Scales Running from the Deity Bloodhype Trouble Magnet Patrimony Flinx Transcendent THE DAMNED Book One: A Call to Arms Book Two: The False Mirror Book Three: The Spoils of War The Chronicles of Riddick Dark Star The Black Hole Cachalot Midworld ABOUT THE AUTHOR ALAN DEAN FOSTER has written in a variety of genres, including hard science fiction, fantasy, horror, detective, western, historical, and contemporary fiction He is the author of the New York Times bestseller Star Wars: The Approaching Storm and the popular Pip & Flinx novels, as well as novelizations of several films, including Transformers, Star Wars, the first t hre e Alien films, and Alien Nation His novel Cyber Way won the Southwest Book Award for Fiction, the first science fiction work ever to so Foster and his wife, JoAnn Oxley, live in Prescott, Arizona alandeanfoster.com Facebook.com/AlanDeanFoster What’s next on your reading list? Discover your next great read! Get personalized book picks and up-to-date news about this author Sign up now ... XVIII By Alan Dean Foster About the Author A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.… First comes the day Then comes the night After the darkness Shines through the light The difference, they say,... in the dry desert air, they disappeared behind the dune III THE HOLDING CELL had no bars They were not needed There was nowhere aboard the ship for a prisoner to go Even had there been, the. .. other hand, they were either angling for a commendation or just plain stupid, because their line of approach put them right in front of the X-wing’s weapons Poe hit the control that deployed the